Today's Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs) possess ever-improving features, which include improved techniques to reconfigure the PLD, and PLDs having increased performance. These features tend to be related to operations in the digital domain. However, PLDs lack the ability to interface directly in the analog domain, mainly because the architecture of most of Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) is application specific, and because analog design techniques are often incompatible with digital design techniques.
There is a lack of PLD-integrated ADCs with flexible configuration features. In order to interface with the analog domain, PLD designers have to utilize stand-alone external ADC devices that are connected to PLDs on a circuit board through standard digital Input/Outputs. This results in less-than-optimum system performance and significant system integration costs. As more and more system designs include PLDs, it is highly desirable to have PLDs with configurable analog interfaces. For example, rapid progress in the wireless communication arena demands flexible wireless receivers with an analog front-end.
It is in this context that embodiments arise.